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Bakery shortenings prepared by hydrogenation contain high levels of trans fatty acids, which are considered to be risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The shortenings prepared from mango kernel and mahua fats have no trans fatty acids. Mahua fat was fractionated by dry fractionation to obtain a high-melting fraction (10% yield, Mh1). Mango fat was fractionated by two-stage solvent fractionation, separating about 15% high-melting fraction (Mk1) in the first stage, followed by 40% stearin (Mk2) in the second stage. The formulation containing 80% Mh1 and 20% of mango middle stearin fraction (Mk2) showed melting characteristics and onset and enthalpy of crystallization similar to those of commercial hydrogenated shortenings designed for cakes and biscuits. The formulation suitable for puff pastry shortening was prepared by blending 50% mango 1st stearin (Mk1) and 50% mahua fat with addition of 5-7% of fully hydrogenated vegetable oil. The formulations having melting characteristics similar to those of commercial cake and biscuit shortenings were also prepared by blending 40% mango fat and 60% mahua fat with 5-7% incorporation of fully hydrogenated peanut oil. However, these formulations showed delayed transition to the stable forms compared to those of commercial samples. Fatty acid composition revealed that commercial hydrogenated shortenings consisted of 18-29% trans oleic acid, whereas the formulations we prepared did not contain any trans acids. The iodine values of commercial samples were 57-58, whereas the value for the formulations prepared were 47-53. The consistency of the prepared samples as measured by cone penetrometer was slightly harder than commercial samples. These studies showed that it is possible to prepare bakery shortenings with no trans fatty acids by using mango and mahua fats and their fractions.Paper no. J9757 in JAOCS 78, 635-640 (June 2001).

A series of plastic fats containing no trans FA and having varying melting or plastic ranges, suitable for use in bakery, margarines, and for cooking purposes as vanaspati, were prepared from palm oil. The process of fractionating palm oil under different conditions by dry and solvent fractionation processes produced stearins of different yields. Melting characteristics of stearin fractions varied depending on the yield and the process. The lower-yield stearins were harder and had a wider plastic range than those of higher yields. The fractions with yields of about 35% had melting profiles similar to those of commercial vanaspati. The plastic range of palm stearins was further improved by blending them with corresponding oleins and with other vegetable oils. The plasticity or solid fat content varied depending on the proportion of stearin. Blends with higher proportions of stearins were harder than those with lower proportions. The melting profiles of some blends, especially those containing 40-60% stearin of about 25% yield and 40-60% corresponding oleins or mahua or rice bran oils, were similar to those of commercial vanaspati and bakery shortenings. These formulations did not contain any trans FA, unlike those of commercial hydrogenated fats. Thus, by fractionation and blending, plastic fats with no trans acids could be prepared for different purposes to replace hydrogenated fats, and palm oil could be utilized to the maximum extent.

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Chocolate spreads were developed by incorporating two different soybean oil margarines, fat phases prepared using 85 % soybean oil (M1) and 1:1 blend of soybean oil and coconut oil (M2) with commercial palm stearin. Eight formulations were tried by varying skim milk powder (SMP)/fluid skimmed milk (FSM), type of fats (M1, M2, a commercial margarine and a table spread), sugar and cocoa powder and their quality characteristics were compared with a commercial hazelnut cocoa spread. The moisture and fat content were 5-6.1 % and 31.4-32.8 % for formulations with SMP and 21.5-24.7 % and 15.6-21.4 % respectively for those with FSM. Rheological studies of FSM spreads showed higher G″ value (loss modulus) than G′ (storage modulus) indicating better spreadability. Descriptive sensory analysis revealed that the products had acceptability score of 8.3 to 10.5 (maximum score: 15). Fat extracted from spreads prepared using M1 and M2 was found to contain 43.9 and 22.3 % linoleic acid and 2.1 and 4.4 % linolenic acid respectively, were free from trans fat while the commercial hazelnut spread had 9.8 % linoleic acid but did not contain linolenic acid. Hence, the developed chocolate spreads have the potential to overcome ω-3 deficiency, ω-6/ω-3 imbalance and to enhance the health standard of people.

Germinated fenugreek seeds were separated into endosperm, seed coat and sprouts with an overall yield of 78%. Germinated endosperm, sprouts and ungerminated endosperm contained 39.25%, 36.12% and 48.20% protein, respectively. Germinated seed coat had 55.80% insoluble and 86.96% total dietary fibre, whereas ungerminted seed coat had 31.90% and 77.10% respectively. Sprouts were rich in polyphenols (97.55 mg per 100 g). At 200 ppm concentration, the antioxidant activity of the extracts of seed coat, sprouts and endosperm from germinated fenugreek seeds was 79.87%, 49.05%, and 13.42% where as the seed coat and endosperm of ungerminated fenugreek exhibited 90.94% and 10.13% antioxidant activity respectively. The GC analysis of the ester derivatives of the fixed oils of above fractions showed discernable changes in fatty acid profile. Atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis of the above fractions showed overall differences in their mineral content particularly calcium, zinc, copper, iron, potassium, manganese and magnesium.

No abstract

A functional ingredient mix (FIM) comprising debittered and defatted fenugreek seed powder (70%) and flaxseed powder (30%) was used in cookies. Ash, fat and protein, dough development time, resistance to extension and peak viscosity values increased as the level of FIM increased from 10 to 30% in the blend. Beyond 20% of FIM substitution, the quality characteristics of cookies were adversely affected. Use of soya lecithin produced a significant improvement in the overall quality of the cookies with 20% FIM. Linolenic acid and total dietary fiber content of the cookies with 20% FIM and lecithin contained four times the amount of linolenic acid (2.3%) and double the amount of dietary fiber (13.04%) when compared with the control cookies (0.5% and 6.22%) respectively. Surface scanning electron microscopy of cookies with different levels of FIM from 10 to 30% showed that there was a disruption in the matrix.